What We Can Learn From Epidemiological Birth Data of Type One Diabetes

In the course of doing astrological research on Type One Diabetes, I came across this remarkable medical paper: “Month of birth and risk of developing insulin dependent diabetes in south east Sweden.”(Free sign in required.)

This is exactly what research astrologers need: an independent account of the patterning of birth dates on illness outcome.

The Swedish doctors came back with some strong results:

Caption from the paper: The annual incidence for each 100 000 children < 16 years of age in the seven paediatric departments during the study period. The highest peaks occurred in 1983 and 1993.

Caption from the paper: Seasonal variation in month of birth in the total cohort. The zero line indicates expected patients and the bars indicate observed patients. For example, in July there were 13 patients more than expected, whereas there were 33 less than expected in October. SBR, standardised birth ratio; *p < 0.01;p < 0.02.

SO we are talking about a 75 percent increase of cases in certain years and a 100 percent drop from baseline in certain months in a stable way. This is in a sample space of 1248 children born between 1977 and 1994.

What gives?

Well, I thought I would give a look at the astrology of the times of the peaks and troughs and try to figure out a kind of pattern.

I chose to decide to assume that the peaks of the monthly cycles would be repeated in the peaks of the yearly cycles and that the troughs would do the same.

This is not necessarily a warranted assumption and is accepted as a frail point in this analysis.

This is what I have garnered. The patterning in the yearly distribution suggests to me that there is something happening with the slower “planets” [Rahu and Ketu are not really planets], namely Saturn, Jupiter, and Rahu/Ketu. Faster planets would change too fast to register as a yearly phenomenon.

Here is the behavior of the slower planets in the peak times of 1983 and 1993.

August 1983:

Jupiter

With high Ketu in Virgo

Saturn

Houses 1/12 to Jupiter in Libra

Rahu/Ketu

7/1 with Jupiter



August 1993:

Jupiter

With Mars in Virgo (!)

Saturn

6/8 to Jupiter and Mars

Rahu/Ketu

Ketu has 1/5 aspect to Jupiter



Thus in both peak years, Jupiter is with a malefic in Virgo, the natural 6th house associated with illness. Moreover, Saturn, the other slow mover, does not have an aspect to Jupiter and the said malefic.

Now let’s look at the low times.


October 1979:

Jupiter

With Saturn and Rahu (!) in Leo

Saturn

With Jupiter and Rahu in Leo

Rahu/Ketu

1/7 with Jupiter and Saturn




October 1979:

Jupiter

In Gemini

Saturn

1/7 Jupiter in Pisces

Rahu/Ketu

Rahu has 1/5 aspect with Jupiter; Ketu has a 1/5 aspect on Saturn



One thing remarkable is that the trough dates have Rahu or Ketu with Saturn, a combination that is said in the astrological texts to lead to the disease. Of course, it may very well do that but in numbers less than is seen in the peak times.

A patterning is happening above. In the peak times, Jupiter with a malefic in Virgo is clear, without a Saturn aspect, but with an aspect by Ketu.

In trough times, a strong 1/7 house relationship between Jupiter and Saturn exists, where Rahu aspects Jupiter and Ketu also aspects Saturn both times.

Moreover, monthly variation suggests influence of the sun. In peak times, Sun is with enemy anabolic Venus for half the month in strong Leo for both August 1983 and August 1993 and continues on this way for part of September.  The sun isswa Leo in the peak times and debilitated or exalted in the trough times!

Interpretively, this all makes sense. Jupiter as representative of the pancreas is in the natural sixth house of illness with a malefic and aspected by the indicator of loss, Ketu at high times of the illness.

The restrictive and vaata indicating Saturn would reasonably dry up the liquid and sweet kapha aspects of the pancreatic Jupiter in the low times, exacerbated by the hard to interpret Rahu.

The sun is the liver in Ayurvedic Astrology.  It would make sense that a debilitated or exalted Sun and hence a liver not in play is patterned at trough times.  A swa sun=liver with Venus= sweet is patterned at peak times.

Conclusion:

We obviously have a lot of work to do, but I commend the medical authors for beginning the dialogue.

I would encourage the authors of the referenced study to publish their full data of all 1248 children’s birthdates and if possible, times. The inclusion of more children’s data is also encouraged.

Thereby, we may see patterns down to the date and ascendant.

Regardless, we have seen a remarkable synchronicity of placements in analyzing the rough patterning of children’s charts in the peaks and troughs of incidence of the disease.

We do not assume however that these patterns account for every incidence of the disease. There is still a background occurrence of the disease independent of the placement patterns we have noted.

Nonetheless, a dramatic distribution change from the average has occurred in this sample space and astrology may partially account for why.

More data and fuller data is necessary, but a complete global account of the astrology of Type One Diabetes is tantalizingly closer with this study.